


Love is Leaning Forward

by teletou



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 04:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3236576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teletou/pseuds/teletou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Rin says you like to eat.” He's looking away, to a spot on the ground by his feet. “I'm not telling you what to do, but it's a start.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <i>(post-summer, pre-graduation, a late autumn afternoon talk)</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love is Leaning Forward

_1._

Sousuke first sees his back, the whites of his shirt clinging onto skin. He tilts his umbrella upwards, letting a drop of rain slide from the tip and fall to the ground. Haruka peers back towards him, head tilted, blue eyes peeking beneath strands of wet, black hair plastered down on his face.

He then sees Haruka's jacket, neatly folded and draped over his arm, and Sousuke rushes forward, puddles rippling beneath his feet as he crosses the distance, letting rain soak his shoulders when he holds the umbrella over Haruka's head.

 

_2._

“You can leave, you know,” Haruka says.

“You have my towel.” Sousuke snorts, watching Haruka dry his hair.

A small sneeze, then a mildly petulant, “I'll wash it and give it to Rin tomorrow.”

Sousuke doesn't say anything. He turns away from Haruka and starts counting raindrops that falls on the roof of the bus stop.

 

_3._

He hands Haruka canned coffee from the vending machine, watches the way he eyes it warily, shoulders the slightest bit tense and hands frozen at the sides of his head.

“What?”

Haruka shrugs, all illusion of uneasy apprehension ebbs away with the motion. “I thought you hated me.”

“I never said that.”

“It was implied.”

Their fingers brush, when Haruka reaches for the coffee. Sousuke pretends not to notice how slender Haruka's fingers are, delicate in the way they reach out to curl around the can with an air of easy elegance.

 

_4._

“Where are you going to go from here?” Haruka asks, once the rain lets up.

Sousuke doesn't look at Haruka, hopes the other doesn't notice the way his breath staggers. He knows what the question stands for, and it hurts him when he answers, “I don't know.”

 

_5._

They meet again, the next weekend, under a light drizzle. Haruka has an umbrella with him this time – _thank fuck_ – and he hands Sousuke a paper bag.

A paper bag that's way too heavy for it to just contain his sports towel.

“ _'Food Combining: A Guide to Planning an Olympic Athlete's Diet',_ ” Sousuke reads aloud.

“Rin says you like to eat.” He's looking away, to a spot on the ground by his feet. “I'm not telling you what to do, but it's a start.”

Sousuke nearly drops the book, when he sees the way Haruka looks straight at him. A smile he has never seen, a dusting of red on his cheeks.

“I've found my dream,” Haruka says. "You can find new ones."

 

_***_

 


End file.
